1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ophthalmic apparatus for observing or photographing an examinee's eye.
2. Related Art
In an ophthalmic apparatus, a main unit containing an illumination system and an observation system is moved up and down to align the apparatus with an examinee's eye. For instance, in a slit-lamp microscope called a slit lamp, a mechanical up-and-down (vertical) movement mechanism is generally used. This mechanically transmits rotation of a joystick which is an operating member to a feed screw via gears and others. The main unit (the illumination system and the observation system) is thus synchronously moved up and down with respect to the eye (e.g., see Patent Document 1).
On the other hand, in an ophthalmic apparatus such as an automatic refractometer, an electrically-driven vertical movement mechanism is generally used. The rotation of a joystick is electrically detected and, based on a detection result thereof, the vertical movement mechanism is driven (e.g., see Patent Document 2). In the case of the conventional electrically-driven vertical movement mechanism, the rotation of a motor is transmitted to a feed screw and, in sync therewith, the main unit is moved with respect to an examinee's eye.